A Private End for a Public Relations Star

By WINNIE HU

Published: May 13, 2001

She was known around the country as ''the grande dame of public relations,'' and made sure that no one ever forgot it. But in her final years, Denny Griswold became a recluse from the glamorous, high-powered world that she had once sought out.

For reasons that remain unclear, Ms. Griswold dropped out of public life in 1995 and checked into the Wilton Meadows Health Care Center in Wilton, Conn. She never checked out. Few of her friends and colleagues said that they saw her after that, and most never heard from her again.

After Ms. Griswold died of a heart attack on Feb. 7 at the age of 92, there was little note for a woman who had collected, by her own count, more than 130 awards for her work and held dinners at the Pierre Hotel for the public relations industry.

Indeed, the final indignity was that Ms. Griswold's death did not even make the news until a month later. Jack O'Dwyer, who publishes a public relations newsletter in Manhattan, called the nursing home in March to write a story about Ms. Griswold's coming birthday. He wrote her obituary instead.

''She would have been mortified,'' said Harold Burson, founder chairman of Burson-Marsteller and a longtime friend of Ms. Griswold's. ''She had a tremendous ego and a need to be recognized. She would have sold seats for her final expiration.''

Now Mr. Burson and other public relations leaders will try to make amends by holding a memorial service for Ms. Griswold on Thursday at the Penn Club in Manhattan. They plan to share their favorite stories about her, then bid her a proper farewell.

''It's about respect, and it's about closure,'' said Lisa Kovitz, president of Women Executives in Public Relations, a group that Ms. Griswold helped organize, ''because her death came as a surprise to many people.''

In recent weeks, Ms. Griswold's final years became the subject of much speculation, and gossip, among those who knew her. Mr. O'Dwyer, a one-time business rival, has published a series of articles in his newsletter and on his Web site questioning whether she had been cut off from her friends and relatives.

''No one got through to Denny,'' he said. ''I'm saying that something terribly wrong went on here.''

Martha E. Meng, a lawyer who represents Wilton Meadows, said the nursing home initially followed instructions from Ms. Griswold's niece, Susan Garrett, to restrict her visitors. But after another relative complained to the Connecticut ombudsman's office, prompting an investigation in 1996, Ms. Meng said, Ms. Griswold did receive regular visitors, mail and phone calls. ''She certainly was not being held incommunicado,'' Ms. Meng said.

She said she could not discuss Ms. Griswold's health because of confidentiality concerns. Ms. Garrett could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Griswold had contracted Lyme disease and complained of other ailments before she went into the nursing home, but close friends say they do not believe she was seriously ill.

Ms. Griswold grew up in New York City, and later joined the editorial staff at Business Week. With her auburn hair and slender figure, she soon caught the attention of Glenn Griswold, the publisher of the magazine. They married, and in 1944, created a newsletter, Public Relations News, to serve the developing industry.

In an interview with The Washington Star in 1978, Ms. Griswold said that the idea for the newsletter came to her in bed at 3 a.m. She immediately poked her husband in the ribs, and when he protested sleepily, she told him to ''get up and take notes.'' Apparently, he did.

Over the years, it only became harder to say no to Ms. Griswold. Always well dressed, with matching hats and white gloves, she was a tireless promoter of public relations, the newsletter and herself. She pinned green-edged buttons -- emblazoned with ''Proud to be in PR'' -- on everyone she could, and bestowed hundreds of awards on public relations and business leaders during her annual dinners.

Her husband died in 1950, and Ms. Griswold married J. Langdon Sullivan, an investment manager, but continued to use her professional name. They frequently entertained a large circle of friends at their town house on East 80th Street and their weekend estate in Weston, Conn.

In 1991, Mr. Sullivan's health began to decline and he moved to a nursing home. Ms. Griswold sold her newsletter that year, but continued to keep up with the public relations business. Then in 1995, Ms. Griswold's friends said, she abruptly stopped calling, writing and dropping by for lunch.

''There's always been some mystery about what happened to her,'' said John Budd Jr., a public relations author and consultant who attended many of her parties. ''She was very, very visible and to disappear like she never existed is certainly very mysterious.''

Photo: Denny Griswold, who started and edited Public Relations News, in 1970. Ms. Griswold also held lavish industry parties and collected 130 awards. (Jack Manning/The New York Times)